In the image of God

Shakespeare once wrote in his play "As You Like It": The whole world is a stage and we humans are only mere players on it! The longer I think about this and the words of God in the Bible, the more clearly I see that there is something to this statement. We all seem to live our lives from a script written in our heads, a script with an open ending. Whoever we meet writes the script a little further. Whether it's the teachers at school telling us we'll never get anywhere, or our revered parents telling us we're born for more. The effects are the same. If we trust the script, we will try to implement it for better or for worse. But now our life is very real. Our heartfelt pain and bitter tears shed are not those of an actor on stage. They are real tears, our pain is real too. We like to pinch ourselves to find out if we've had a nightmare or not. Most of the time we have to face the bitter reality that everything is actually true. Our life does not follow a predetermined script. everything is real

Understand the script

God himself wrote the original script for our lives. Right at the beginning of the Bible we read: "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness." (1. Mose 1,26)According to this Bible passage, we were created in the image of the one true God, who is our Creator, so that we might be like him.

After Will Smith was offered the role of Muhammad Ali, he would spend countless hours in the gym trying to resemble not just any boxer but Muhammad himself. I remember reading that Smith put himself through heavy boxing and weight training to to feel like a boxer and to cherish images of young Ali from his childhood, only to end up being completely like him. He did it in a way only Will Smith could. As an actor, he was so good in his role that he was nominated for an Oscar. Too bad he didn't get it! You see, once you understand the script, you can do whatever it takes to convey it convincingly on film. Unfortunately, humanity's script got off to a bad start because it was tampered with.

After man was created in God's image to be like him, another character soon entered the scene and changed the script. The serpent spoke to Eve: "You will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (1. Mose 3,4-5).

The biggest lie of all time

What was the lie that deceived Eve? It is often said that the lie consisted of the devil's words: "You will not certainly die." I have recently been studying the story of Adam at length, and I believe this is not the case. The true and greatest lie, the lie of all time, the lie of all lies, which was set into the world by the father of lies himself, was: "As soon as you eat of it, your eyes will be opened; you will be like God and will know good and evil!" As we have read, humans were created in God's image, to be like Him. Only after they ate of the fruit of that tree in the middle of the garden did they become different from Him. The devil knew that humans resembled God. However, he also knew that he could only change the entire script for humanity if he could make people believe they were not like the Creator. Unfortunately, his tactic worked. Humans had been created with an innate moral compass. They didn't need to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to know what is good and what is not. "They demonstrate that the work of the law is written on their hearts; their consciences bear witness to it, and so do their thoughts, both accusing and excusing one another." (Röm 2,15).

From that day on, we were different from God. Our relationship with Him was disrupted because we no longer resembled Him. Since then, people have repeatedly tried to be like Him. However, since we did not create ourselves, we cannot restore ourselves to our former state from within. If a piece of an ear falls off a statue, the statue cannot pick it up and put it back in its original position. Only the sculptor can do that. It is the same with us. We are like clay in God's hands. He is the one who created us in His image at the beginning, and He is also the one who can restore us. He sent Jesus so that He could bring us His salvation through His coming; the very same Jesus who also healed the severed ear of the servant of the high priest. (Lk 22,50-51).

How does our heavenly Father restore us to that original state of creation? He does this by showing us the image of Himself, in which He created us. To this end, He sent Jesus: “He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” (Kol 1,15).

The Epistle to the Hebrews explains this in more detail: “He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” (Hebr 1,3)Jesus, who was God himself, in whose image we were created, came to earth in our human form to reveal God to us. The devil, however, is not yet finished with us, but God is with him. (Joh 19,30)He still uses the same lies he told our ancestors Adam and Eve. His intention is still to deceive us into believing we are not like God: "To the unbelievers, whose minds the god of this world has blinded, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2. Kor. 4,4)When Paul speaks of unbelievers at this point, some believers still do not believe that through Jesus Christ we have been restored to the image of our heavenly Father.

transformed

In Jesus Christ we are reconciled to God and become again in his image. Men now have a part in being made in the image of the Son of God and need do nothing to attain it. We don't have to eat the sweet fruit of faith to be like God, we are like Him now.

Each one of us is transformed into the original image of glory. Paul puts it this way: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his image from glory to glory through the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2. Kor 3,18)Through his Spirit who dwells within us, our heavenly Father transforms us into the image of his Son, who radiates glory.

Now that we have regained our original likeness in and through Jesus Christ, let us take to heart the words of James: “Do not be deceived, dear friends. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” (Jak 1,16-18).

Only good gifts, only perfect gifts, come from above, from the Creator of the stars. Before we look in the mirror, we should be aware of who we are and what our identity is. The Word of God promises us that we are a new creation: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2. Kor 5,17).

Do we see in the mirror who and what we are, and do we act accordingly in the world? In the mirror, we see the masterpiece and contemplate what God has newly created in Christ. Therefore, we cannot simply walk away and forget what we look like. For if we act that way, we are like someone who, ready for a wedding, stands fully dressed before the mirror and sees their beautiful and pure appearance, but then forgets it. Like someone who goes into their garage, slides under their car to repair it, and then wipes the oil and grease off their white suit. “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, they are like a person who looks at their bodily face in a mirror. After looking at themselves, they go away and immediately forget what they looked like.” (Jak 1,23-24).

How absurd! How sad! Don't believe the lie! The original script reads: You are the son of the living God, or you are the daughter of the living God. He has recreated you in Christ. You are a new creation. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Eph 2,10).

So the next time you look in the mirror, you will see God's newly created masterpiece in Christ. Prepare to act accordingly. You want to keep the image of Jesus in you!

by Takalani Musekwa